Advertising driven switched digital video (SDV) provides a method and system for prioritizing multiple channel versions for target audiences. Audience members of cable television services may be grouped by characteristics into different audience cohorts, but conventional systems do not allow cable service providers to assign those audience members to channel versions based on their cohort. Furthermore, conventional systems do not provide any way for service providers to forecast available audience cohorts and thus predetermine how many versions of different channels should be made available within existing bandwidth constraints.
SDV is a network scheme for distributing digital video via a cable. Switched video may transmit digital video in a more efficient manner so that additional uses may be made of the freed up bandwidth. The scheme may apply to digital video distribution both on hybrid fiber-coax cable TV systems using QAM channels and/or on IPTV systems. In current hybrid fiber-coaxial systems, a fiber optic network extending from the operator's central office may carry all video channels out to a fiber optic node which may serve any number of subscriber premises, such as 1,000 homes. In conventional systems, all channels are sent via coaxial cable from the fiber node to each of the homes regardless of how may homes are actively watching channels at a given time. With SDV, unwatched channels may not need to be sent.